helpx.adobe.com › acrobat › usingAdd headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs, Adobe Acrobat Jan 12, 2022 · Bates numbering is a method of indexing legal documents for easy identification and retrieval. Each page of each document is assigned a unique Bates number that also indicates its relationship to other Bates-numbered documents. Bates numbers appear as headers or footers on the pages of each PDF in the batch.